Monkey-wrench



i y UNITED` lSTATE-s PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK L. SMITH,` oE BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming para of Letters raient 'Noifieaeon dated octoberes, 1890.

Application iiled August 28, 1890. Serial No. 363,318. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Blue Island, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Monkey-Wrenches, of whichthe following is a specification. Y

My invention relates to improvements in monkey-wrenches; and it consistsin the construction hereinafter described and claimed.

Like letters refer to the same part-s in the several figures of thedrawings, in which- Figure lis a side elevation of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of thev Same. Figs. 3 and 4.are cross-sections of the same, respectively illustrating the nut in andout of engagement with the screw-thread on the shank of the wrench. Fig.5 is a side elevat-ion of a modified form of the wrench.

The well-knownform of monkeywrench has its movable jaw actuated by a nutregistering with screw-threads upon the shank of the wrench 5 but thisform, though eective, is slow in its operation, and my present inventionis designed to retain the eectiveness of the old form and render itpossible to manipulate the movable jaw of the wrench with greaterrapidity than before.

The main shank of the wrench is designated by the letter B, and it hasupon one end the iixed jaw A and upon the other end the handle H, andintermediate of these parts a screwthread F, and, if desired, may have aScale on one of its lateral faces. The screw-thread upon the shank isaccording to my invention formed only on two sides of the same-nto wit,top and bottom-leaving the lateral faces of the shank plain. I preferalso to construct these portions of the screw-thread immediatelyadjacent to the at faces of the shank in a tapering or pointed form, asshown in the drawings, for a purpose which will hereinafter bementioned. Surrounding this screw-thread is a long nut D, which may haveupon its eX- terior roughened portions to afford a grip for the hand ofthe operator. This nut is provided at its interior end with a groove Gr,ezttending some distance around its periphery, and which, preferably, ishalf such distance; and a movable jaw C, having the usual eXtension orferrule I, is constructed to slide freely over the screwthreaded shank,and formed upon the same at its outer end is a lug E, which is made tofit and move in the groove G of the nut. `This lug may be of anysuitable width; but I prefer to construct it of a width correspondingwith about one-fourth of the distance around the nut. In Fig. 5 I haveshown the inner surfaces of the two jaws serrated or roughened for thepurpose of enabling them the better to take hold of a metal pipe orSimilar object.

The operation of my invention is as follows: When it is desired to Setthe jaws at a definite distanceapart so as to grasp an object, the nutis turned until the Unthreaded portions therein are adjacent to thethreaded portions of the Shank, the groove in such nut permitting it tobe so turned without affecting the movable jaw. Then the nut and movablejaw are pushed toward the lined jaw to the required distance, and thiscan be done rapidly, because these parts will slide freely over thethreads of the shank. Next, the nut is turned until its threads engagethe threads of the shank, and by turning such nut a quarterrevolution,or less if required, the male and lfemale threads are interlocked andcause the movable jaw to tightly grasp the object to be clamped and tobe locked in that position. Again, when it is desired to release theobject thus clamped and apply the wrench to some other object a slightturn of the nut will unlock the parts and disengage the threads thereofand permit a quick and easy backward movement of the movable jaw and nutto the required distance, when they may be set as before. The ends ofthe threads upon the shank are made pointed or inclined, so as tofacilitate their engagement with the threads of the nut. If the ends ofthe thread upon the shank were abrupt, there would be difficulty inengaging them with the female threads of the nut.

It is obvious that many variations may be made by o'ne skilled in theart in the details of my invention without departing from the spiritthereof, and I therefore do not wish to 4be understood as confiningmyself to the eX- act construction shown and described.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

'IOO

l. A monkey-wrench comprising the usual jaws, a shank threaded upon twoof its sides, and a nut for operating the movable jaw, which is threadedso as to correspond with the shank and move loosely over the threads ofthe latter when desired, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.Y

2. A monkey-wrench comprising the usual shank and fixed and movablejaws, the shank having screw-threads upon two portions of the same andthe other portions left plain, and a nut threaded and constructed tocorrespond with the shank and having a groove formed therein for thereception of a lug upon the movable jaw, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth. v

3. A monkey-Wrench comprising the usual fixed and movable jaws, a shankprovided with two plain sides and a threaded upper zo and lower surface,the ends of the threads adjacent to the plain surfaces of the shankbeing pointed or inclined, and an inolosing and operating nut threadedon portions corresponding with the portions of the shank, while leftplain upon its other interior surface, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

4. A monkey-wrench comprising the usual fixed and movable jaws, thelatter being provided with a lug at its outer end, a shank with twoplain unthreaded sides and two threaded 1 portions, one of the plainsides havinga scale formed thereon, and a nut having its interiorthreaded and left plain to correspond with the shankV and its exteriorprovided with a groove for the lug of the movable jaw, sub- 3

